72 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 



ing," it is undeniable that there is such a thing as an 

 innate or natural intellectual and moral superiority of ca- 

 pacity possessed by one man over another. 



Now what takes place in a school, in a small way, is 

 only carried out on a grander scale in the great school of 

 the world. Bat here, from the commencement, the most 

 talented are usually the least favored by fortune. They 

 enter on the active duties of life under great pecuniary 

 disadvantages; but superior ability and energy will as- 

 suredly, sooner or later, give them pre-eminence. It is 

 not long that the c.ontest remains doubtful. Nothing can 

 withstand their onward progress. In vain you try to keep 

 them down. As well might a fly attempt to stop the ad- 

 vance of the mail train from "Washington. Enterprising 

 business men soon learn to know and esteem each other. 

 There is a congeniality of disposition which inspires mu- 

 tual confidence. It is then that capital combines with 

 capital. Contracts are made, and the most extensive 

 public works are executed. Banking establishments are 

 carried on all over the country ; they gain the almost un- 

 limited confidence of the community. It is thus that com- 

 mercial power is slowly and surely accumulated, until 

 finally merchant princes become a stern reality. Yet 

 every enterprise, great or small, has its master-spirit the 

 main axis or stem from which the lesser branches proceed ; 

 for the laws of nature remain invariably the same. Men 

 will pay homage to merit. They ever will cheerfully sub- 

 ordinate themselves to superior ability. 



Nothing, therefore, can be more erroneous than the idea 

 that, in order to preserve the present system of inequality, 

 it is necessary to keep a certain portion of the human race 

 in ignorance. This is very bad policy, as well as a viola- 

 tion of the natural rights of man. Let us look at the tree 

 again ; for nature is best interpreted by a reference to na- 

 ture. "We have, in every tree, a deeply interesting and in- 

 structive combination of industrial forces which illustrates 

 clearly a perfect system of mutual dependency and subor- 

 dination. No part of the tree is unemployed or unimpor- 

 tant. The poorest branch and bud-scales, stipule and 



